Economy forces management resourcing rethink

Cost-sensitivity and the economy, combined with a critical management skills shortage is prompting record numbers of companies to move to interim management. Executives Online, a leading interim management company, reports that enquiries are up 400% on last year.

Executives Online's research among 100 leading board directors and senior managers highlights the drivers behind this trend. A third are concerned about management skills shortages, but with cost cutting topping 92% of board agendas, a third are turning to interim managers. According to 43% of the directors questioned, this is because they are keen to avoid the commitment of full-time appointments, 39% think interim managers are more accountable and over a third see them as the most cost effective staffing option.

Norrie Johnston, Managing Director, Executives Online, believes this marks a new trend in senior management resourcing in the UK.

The tough times have woken many companies up to the potential of an interim manager. They can be handpicked for a job, in place within a week, given a clear set of objectives and a really tight time-frame to deliver them in. For companies who are uncertain where they will be in six months, but who need to implement their plans now, this is a far more attractive proposition than traditional recruitment which requires a lot of time, money and commitment.
Duncan Sedgwick who is now managing director of Gateway Management Solutions, used interim managers from Executives Online when he was Business Transformation Director at Powergen, they helped cut the company's cost base by #75 million and create a new business platform. He believes the beauty of interim managers in the current climate is their ability to deliver fast:

Consultants can take weeks to put in place, and hiring permanent staff can take months, but interims agencies can be through the door and delivering in days. Sometimes permanent staff can lose their impetus and get bogged down by things like company politics but interims hired via a good agency are enthusiastic and focused on the task in hand....and if not you can quickly replace them!